Late-Night Tea
by Panhead13
Summary: Up with an upset stomach, the Meta-Crisis Doctor bumps into Jackie. Kind of dark. A preview to my upcoming story, "Blackout". Its summary is inside. Better than it sounds, drabble.


**"Late-Night Tea", a preview to my upcoming story, "Blackout".**

**I've never done a preview-post before, but since I have this scene written and love it a lot, I decided it would be fun to post it. I have, however, tweaked a line to avoid spoilers.**

**Setting: The meta-crisis Doctor lives with the Tylers, not ready to marry Rose until he is used to living in Pete's world. He has been living with Jackie, Pete, Rose and Tony for about three weeks now.**

**NOTE: I am American, so forgive me should I mess up on the terminology. XD**

,.~DW~.,

The Doctor woke up in a cold sweat, his t-shirt soaked through. He sat up, gasping. The man groped about for a torch, and immediately clicked it on when he found one. He had never been so afraid of nothing before. He stood up and headed for his bedroom door, keeping an eye out...

The man left his room and went into the kitchen for a glass of water to calm his frazzled nerves. He poured himself an icy-cold glass and chugged it down, gasping after finishing. For a moment he considered getting something to eat as well, but he decided an upset stomach was the last thing he needed. Well, a more upset stomach than the one he already had.

The Doctor knew he probably wouldn't be able to sleep. He was about to go back to his room and spend the rest of the night reading when he ran into Jackie Tyler on the way out. "Jackie!" he exclaimed, stumbling back a bit.

"And what are you doing up at this hour, sweet'art?" Jackie asked, surprised herself. "Thought you went to bed hours ago."

"I could ask you the same question," said the Doctor, nervously tugging his ear.

"Oh, I was just checking on Tony," said Jackie. "I was about to make myself a nice cuppa before going back to bed. An' what about you?"

"Bit of an upset stomach," said the Doctor. He rubbed the back of his head. Having a normal conversation with Rose's mum was most unnerving.

"Ah, so you could use a cuppa tea, too," said Jackie.

The Doctor waved his hands wildly. "No, actually, I was just-"

"Don't try to argue with me, some tea is just what you need," said Jackie, halting the man's oncoming frantic babble. The Doctor bit his lip, keeping himself from arguing his way into trouble.

Jackie turned on the kitchen lights and started to make tea. The Doctor sighed in frustration and sat down in one of the chairs, realizing that so long as that blasted woman was making him tea, he had no possible hope of escaping her. Besides, he could hear Rose's voice in his head telling him to listen to her mum just this once. His sensible conscience always spoke in Rose's voice.

_Where was that conscience three nights ago?_ he thought. Fresh guilt stabbed him in the gut, sending his stomach into further turmoil. He swallowed back some bile.

Jackie turned around with two cups of tea and noticed the Doctor's pale face. "My _word,_ you look sick," she commented, handing him his tea. The Doctor sniffed. "Come on, we'll talk in the lounge."

Jackie and the Doctor were soon seated comfortably in plush chairs with their tea and a few biscuits. Jackie sipped her tea thoughtfully. "So what's this upset stomach all about?" she asked. "Rose hasn't been feeding you too many chips, has she?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No, it's not like that," said the Doctor.

"Then what _is_ it like?" Jackie inquired.

The Doctor grunted. "Eh, it's like... Have you ever done something you've regretted, and then been so sick with guilt over what you'd done?" Jackie nodded slowly, not speaking a word. "That's what it's like."

Jackie leaned forward. "Tell me. What did you do? Answer honestly," she said in a softer tone than what the man would have expected from Jackie Tyler.

"I can't say," the Doctor rasped.

"Tell me," Jackie repeated, more sternly this time.

The Doctor sighed. "Let's just say I broke a promise I made a _very_ long time ago," he said. His deep brown eyes met Jackie's. The woman might have asked more questions, but that one grim look from the Doctor told her to go no further on the subject.

They finished their tea in silence and went their separate ways.

,.~DW~.,

**So that's the preview to my new story, "Blackout". A bit of Doctor-Jackie bonding, since they didn't really do much bonding in the series.**

**"Blackout" summary: The Meta-Crisis Doctor was having a rough time adjusting to his new life with the Tylers, having a job at Torchwood, and, most of all, being human. But when an encounter with a new alien species and a sleazy businessman begin to bring out his manifest dark side, things begin to get much more difficult and unstable in his life.**

**Sound interesting? I will... eventually find the time to write it and begin to publish it... XD Right now it consists of drabbles and scenes from various points in the story and is based on a shaky theory of mine. So it's sort of AU. When I start to write Blackout and we get to this point in the story, it will make much more sense. Then you shall know what bothers the Doctor's conscience so much...**


End file.
